I am gathering you around myself.
Our Lady’s children bonding at St. James Church! (c)Mary TV 2016 J.M.J. March 7, 2017 Dear Family of Mary! “Dear children…I am gathering you around myself. Look at me with the heart, speak to me as to a mother about your pains, sufferings and your joys. Ask me to pray to my Son for you…” (March 2, 2017) Our Lady tells us how to relate to her in this message. She wants to gather us around her. Mothers love it when their little ones congregate around them on a rocking chair or the couch. It happens very often when she offers to read them a story. They climb up and sit on each side of her, and one or two may be on her lap or hanging over her shoulder so they can peer down at the pictures. It is a wonderful moment. Everyone is leaning up against each other, in rapt attention to the story. But the real communication is the love that is radiating between them all. This is bonding time. Bonding is very important to children. They need to know that they are not alone, that they are loved and accepted, and that they have a network of support. The family is constructed by God to provide just such bonding. But our families are in distress, sin has broken so many of them. So bonding doesn’t always happen properly. That is why Our Lady longs to gather us around her. She knows that we may have bonding issues in our lives. We need to bond with her and receive the motherly love we so desperately need. We can gather around Our Lady in prayer. This is how she gathers us. I think that the prayer of the Rosary provides such a family bonding time. It can happen in our families. But I experience it, even in large groups, such as the prayer outside at St. James in Medjugorje. There we are all together, gathered, sitting close, praying the mysteries together, and we are family with Mary. So what does she do once we are gathered around her, leaning by her side, soaking in her presence? She tells us to “Look at me with the heart, speak to me as to a mother about your pains, sufferings and your joys. Ask me to pray to my Son for you…” This is the heart of prayer. To look at Mary with the eyes of our hearts. That is to look at her without disguises, to be just who we are, like children. Then we are to share everything with her, everything. Once we do, she turns around and shares it all with Jesus. It passes right through her heart to His. This is what it is like to have a heavenly mother, one who loves us completely and wants us to be close to her, so close that we can hear each other breathe! Thank you, dearest Mother, for gathering us around you! Thank you for being our Mother. In Jesus, Mary and Joseph! Cathy Nolan ©Mary TV 2017